The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

Suddenly, a spiritual energy, even more wondrous than that in the metal fragments and completely incomprehensible to the figure, flowed out from the crystal fragments and surged into the figure's body, seemingly attempting to cause some kind of change. However, this spiritual energy was far too little, and before any change could occur, it became part of his own spiritual energy and vanished without a trace.

The figure frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed. In that brief moment, he had not gained nothing; he had vaguely grasped the opportunity for change.

In the abyss where no hope can be seen, even the slightest glimmer of light is precious. After a hundred years of waiting, the turning point has finally arrived, and the figure is filled with immense satisfaction.

The figure carefully put away the metal strip and the blue crystal, then scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes, quickly locking onto a clearing not far away. There were obvious traces of intelligent life living there, and most importantly, in one corner of the clearing, a large pit was still burning with raging flames.

Hollows do not seek cooked food, and Hueco Mundo has no flammable materials such as trees, so the presence of flames here is undoubtedly an anomaly.

With another flash, the figure appeared at the edge of the burning pit. After a careful observation, it easily found a boulder that could completely cover the pit, a container carved from rock with some embers still burning inside, and another stone full of holes with a few blue crystals on its surface.

So, both this crystal and this metal strip were created by a Hollow?

As expected, his guess was confirmed. The figure felt a little annoyed. He had been too hasty. In just a hundred breaths, he didn't know if the Hollow who created these things had escaped. It would be too much of a pity if he was crushed to death by his spiritual pressure.

If I had known, I would have given them more time to escape.

Shaking his head helplessly, he carefully put away the newly discovered blue crystal, then identified the direction by the fleeing footprints on the ground. The figure cleared his throat and spoke solemnly.

"My friend who created the blue crystals and white metal, I hope you can share these two technologies with me. In return, I can help you become a Vastod. If you agree to this deal, please write down the crafting techniques in a prominent place. I will move again in a day, and hopefully I will see what I want then."

The calm voice, propelled by powerful spiritual energy, spread far and wide, quickly covering an area of ​​tens of kilometers. It ensured that even if the creative Hollow was Adjuchas, he would still be within the range of the sound even if he fled at full speed for a hundred breaths. Only then did the figure withdraw the spiritual energy that had propelled the sound outward.

Hopefully, the creator is still alive.

With a sigh, the figure suppressed his unease, anticipation, and restlessness, forcing himself to calm down. He began to patiently study the blue crystal and white metal in his hands, waiting for tomorrow to arrive.

Chapter 100, please provide a simplified Chinese text?

"...He must be talking about us, right?"

Erlang, still shaken and panting heavily, stared in the direction from which the voice came. Every muscle in his body tensed involuntarily. Before today, he had never imagined that such a terrifying existence existed in the world. Just hearing the other party's voice gave him the illusion that his life was coming to an end.

"It's obvious they're talking about us."

Perhaps it was because he was thick-skinned, or perhaps it was because he lost the feeling of "fear" when he became Hollow. Although Gu Shi was afraid of the terrifying spiritual pressure contained in that voice, just like other Hollows, those feelings could not stay in his heart for long.

After the sound disappeared, Gu Shi quickly recovered within a few breaths, and the fear in his heart vanished rapidly.

[The owner of that voice is most likely Stark, right? Besides him, you probably can't find another player in Hueco Mundo with such an exceptional level of skill.]

Although he only heard the voice from beginning to end and never saw the owner of the voice, Gu Shi still guessed the identity of the person who came—

Koyatai Stark, the undisputed first seat among the future Espada, the strongest in Hueco Mundo, a living calamity whose mere presence causes slaughter, who broke the boundary between Shinigami and Hollows without relying on the Hogyoku, and an absurd existence who achieved Arrancar transformation on his own.

Although Stark's appearance was somewhat abrupt, fortunately, when he spoke for the second time, he made no attempt to hide his intentions and openly expressed his need for "white metal and blue crystals".

Gu Shi could guess with a little thought that he probably made some noise while experimenting with the blue crystals that he himself did not notice, but Stark noticed it and therefore set his sights on what Tianpeng had made, wanting to use that blue crystal to complete the Breaking Face and change his long, lonely life.

When "Bleach" was at its peak in his previous life, Gu Shi often debated with people online, discussing some settings that the author had not given clear answers to. Among them, whether self-made Arrancars were superior to those using the Hogyoku was a topic that was frequently brought up.

Therefore, after understanding Stark's intentions, Gu Shi immediately thought of this question—if Stark really used the degraded, unfinished Hogyoku to complete the Arrancar, would his strength decrease significantly?

Furthermore, besides the changes in power, there is another serious problem—will Lilynette reappear?

In the storyline of "Bleach", Stark's subordinate Lilynette is not an independent life, but a unique individual formed by Stark splitting his own soul to weaken himself when he completed his autonomous Arrancar process.

In this world, strong individuals who despise their own power and yearn for self-sealing seem to create these peculiar life forms closely related to themselves. This is true for Stark on the side of the Hollows, and it is also true for Kenpachi Zaraki on the side of the Shinigami. And without exception, these peculiar life forms have become the most important people in their lives.

So, if Stark hadn't intentionally broken through to the Breakers, would Lilynette still have been born?

In a short period of time, many questions popped into Gu Shi's mind, and then he realized even faster that thinking about these things was actually meaningless—

The strongest being in Hueco Mundo is asking for something; how could I possibly refuse?

Should I tell Stark, "Just bear with it a little longer, endure hundreds of years of loneliness, and one day in the future you'll be able to reproduce and give birth to your best friend"?

Not to mention that Gu Shi was not willing to go to such lengths for Stark, who was just a stranger, by revealing his ability to "know the future," even if Gu Shi were willing to do so, he simply couldn't do it.

Stark's spiritual pressure covers a no-man's-land; getting close will result in death. Gu Shi simply didn't have the life to run up to him and engage in verbal sparring.

So, if we don't want to anger the strongest in Hueco Mundo and cause them to completely wipe out the Forest of Menos, is the only option to do what they say?

Gu Shi had no concerns about admitting defeat, but there was still one problem to be solved.

...Stark, can he read?

Or, to put it another way, do the Starks know the characters that Gu Shi and the others can write?

Hollows and Shinigami are pure souls. Although their communication relies on "language," it is essentially through the vibration of their souls, allowing them to directly transmit their thoughts to other souls.

"Writing" and "language" are more like auxiliary tools that make this communication more accurate. For example, some professional terms or ancient poems and verses must rely on writing to be accurately expressed.

It is precisely because of this characteristic that Erlang, who has never learned human language, was able to communicate with Gu Shi immediately and without any obstacles after becoming ethereal, and was able to appreciate the beauty of "ancient poetry".

So, here's the question: can Stark understand Simplified Chinese?

Of course, besides showing off his simplified Chinese, Gu Shi can also have Ashido write for him. Although Ashido doesn't like to use his brain, he did attend six years of classes at the Shin-O Spiritual Arts Academy, so his basic Japanese reading and writing skills are not a problem.

The problem is, Stark must have accumulated a lot of time to become the strongest in Hueco Mundo, so he must be at least three to five hundred years old, right? It's not impossible that he's even older.

As we all know, writing systems change over time. Could the writing system that Stark mastered three to five hundred years ago be the same as the writing system that Ashdod now knows?

Gu Shi didn't know much about Japanese history and wasn't sure if the Japanese language had undergone frequent changes. He just hoped that the Japanese language would change less throughout history, so that Asid wouldn't write a lot of things that Stark couldn't understand and would think was just a joke.

Now, we can only let Asid write it; we can't really write a bunch of simplified Chinese and let Stark slowly guess it.

"...Ashido, are you feeling better? If you can move, come and help me write something."

"Phew, I've recovered."

As the one with the weakest spiritual pressure among them, Ashido was the most affected. His legs were still a little weak, but when he heard Gu Shi's words, he still forced himself to get up and walked unsteadily to Gu Shi's side, patting his chest with difficulty.

"Leave it to me, my handwriting is pretty good."

When they were escaping earlier, Asido couldn't get up, and Gu Shi grabbed him and carried him all the way out. This truly saved Asido's life. Asido was grateful, but didn't know how to express his thanks. A simple "thank you" was too insignificant. However, Asido's limited knowledge prevented him from uttering flowery words of gratitude.

Therefore, he could only clumsily express his attitude through actions. Even though his limbs were weak and his mind was wandering, he still forced himself to draw his Zanpakuto as a pen and deeply engraved Gu Shi's words on the ground without missing a single one.

Kisuke Urahara twitched the corners of his mouth, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. His condition was clearly much better than Asido's, but Gu Shi did not ask him to help with the writing, obviously not wanting him to know the secret of the "blue crystal and white metal".

This is understandable, as the two have not known each other for very long. It is only natural that he is not as trusted by Gu Shi as Asido. Without Gu Shi having to send him away, Urahara Kisuke tactfully walked away and found a place where he could not hear Gu Shi's whispers, where he sat down to recover his strength.

It's okay, one day I'll be able to figure it out myself.

Chapter 101 Farmer Stark

"Ignite the corpse of a Void in a confined environment, compress it into stone (?), then ignite a large number of stones in a confined environment, compress them to form blue crystals?"

Stark looked at the writing left on the ground. Although he felt that some of the words were not written quite right and seemed to be different from what he remembered, he managed to roughly understand their meaning by guessing and figuring out what the big pit he had seen earlier was for.

"In that case, let's give it a try."

After examining the marks on the ground and determining the direction Gu Shi and the others had left in, Stark chose the opposite direction, took a light step, and appeared hundreds of meters away.

When he entered the Forest of Menreiki before, Stark specifically warned the Menreiki to minimize unnecessary deaths and gave them enough time to escape. Now that he needs the remains of Menreiki, he can't find a single one around, so he has to make another trip.

Fortunately, distance was no longer a concern for Stark. After moving quickly for a while, the corpses of Hollows began to appear in his field of vision, including both Kyrians and Adjuchas.

The only difference between the two is that all the Kylians died instantly without any sign of struggling, while Adjuchas ran a few steps before his consciousness was obliterated by Stark's spiritual pressure, and he collapsed and died while struggling.

Stark had seen this scene countless times over the past century, and his heart was no longer moved. He simply picked out Adjuchas's body from among the many Kyrian corpses and piled it aside, waiting for it to be disposed of later.

In Stark's view, the creation condition of "collecting different Hollows and fusing them into one" is like artificially creating a lifeless Hollow. Although the Hollow's form is a "gem" and seems to have nothing to do with traditional Hollows, it is essentially no different from the Hollows, both of which devour and fuse other Hollows to strengthen themselves.

Therefore, using higher-grade Hollows as materials should result in a higher-grade finished product.

Stark wasn't sure if his guess was accurate, and the message he wrote on the ground didn't explain it either.

This is not surprising. Judging from the footprints and other traces next to the message, the Hollow that created the blue crystal should only be a Kyrian and not have the means to use Adjuchas-level materials. Stark decided to try it himself.

Hmm, not bad luck. Looks like we should be able to find Vastod up ahead?

Like a hardworking farmer, Stark bent over picking Hollows from the ground when he suddenly noticed a clear sign of struggle not far away. A faint joy rose in his heart. Under his spiritual pressure, Adjuchas would die after running only a few steps. The fact that it could struggle so violently meant that it was most likely Vastod.

Vastods are, after all, high-ranking Hollows. If we ignore Stark himself, this level is definitely the pinnacle of Hueco Mundo. They could even proclaim themselves the kings of Hueco Mundo without any problem. Even if you searched the entire Hueco Mundo, the number of Vastods probably wouldn't exceed twenty, and it's uncertain whether there could even be ten.

Therefore, finding Vastod just by randomly choosing a direction was a small surprise for Stark.

Following the trail of struggle, after walking about one or two hundred meters, they indeed saw the corpse of a Vastod, which was only a little over two meters tall, with slender hands and feet like sticks, and long, thick golden hair.

The evolution of Hollows follows a clear pattern: when a small Hollow evolves into a Gillian, its size increases dramatically.

When a Gillian evolves into an Acqua, its size will shrink again, and its appearance will become similar to a combination of a certain animal or several animals.

The size of the Adjuchas evolving into Vastod is not predictable; some will shrink while others will grow larger, but without exception, they will all tend towards a humanoid form.

This Vastod is small in size and has hair on its head that makes it easy to drag and move. It will also take up less space when it is put into the pit, making it a high-quality material. This made Stark feel even better.

[We already have Vastodes, that's all we'll collect for now... What's that?]

Stark, having found something rare, intended to stop for the time being, but when he looked up, he noticed a distinct black patch not far away.

Unlike the old, decaying black of the Kylian robes, that black was clean and fresh, standing out starkly against the pale white earth.

Stark stepped forward, picked it up, and after examining it, he retrieved the somewhat unfamiliar word from his distant memory.

"grim Reaper?"

[How could there be a Shinigami in the Forest of Great Hollows? And instead of a team emblem on his arm, there's text embroidered on the inside of his collar that says... Saito?]

[Are the Grim Reapers no longer divided by squads, but instead distinguished by their surnames?]

Stark tilted his head in confusion. Before Hueco Mundo became a no-man's land, he hadn't left for a long time, nor had he seen the Grim Reaper.

He couldn't remember whether it was two or three hundred years ago when he last encountered Death. Moreover, Death fled immediately upon seeing him, and he didn't care about the pitiful spiritual power on Death's body. He didn't pursue Death, so he didn't have the chance to check whether Death was wearing a team badge or whether there were embroidered words on his collar. He couldn't be sure if such changes had already occurred.

[The world is indeed constantly changing. Even the Thirteenth Division has been reorganized. I really want to go to Soul Society myself and see for myself. I hope this blue crystal can truly help me find a chance for change.]

Shaking his head, Stark stopped investigating the reason why the Shinigami had appeared in the Forest of Menreiki. He picked up the three Shinigami and their Zanpakuto from the ground, intending to take them back with Vastod.

Although the message on the ground only mentioned using Hollows as materials, it's likely for the same reason as not specifying whether Adjuchas could be used as materials—it's just that the Killian who created the formula probably didn't have the opportunity to experiment with Shinigami.

Since we've come across it, we might as well burn it as raw material.

Soon, next to a small hill made of Adjuchas, there was another Vastod and three Deaths. Stark nodded in satisfaction at the fruits of his hard work.

To minimize variables and avoid failure, Stark specifically moved all these materials back to the large pit in the Gushi camp, intending to use that pit for preparation.

It's not difficult to blast a crater in the ground with a Cero and start a fire on the spot, but who knows if the formation of blue crystals has environmental requirements, or if it can only be successful in specific locations? It's better to be more cautious.

Taking a deep breath, Stark solemnly grabbed an Adjuchas and threw it into the pit, igniting it with spiritual pressure friction. Then he grabbed a nearby stone and covered the pit, stepping on it to ensure the environment inside was a perfectly "sealed environment."

Soon, as the spiritual flames burned, the spiritual power within Adjuchas's corpse began to be released rapidly. As a mid-level Hollow, the spiritual power contained within this corpse, which was only a little over five meters long, could be described as enormous. A small amount of the released power filled the large pit and began to violently impact the boulder above that served as the lid.